Wolfpack player selected to Bantam Girls Team Alberta

Rayan Jaber was recently selected to play on the Bantam Girls Team Alberta, which will compete in Halifax, Nova Scotia this July for the Canadian Minor National Championships.

One local lacrosse player will have the opportunity to represent Alberta at the Bantam Female Canadian Minor National Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia this July.

Rayan Jaber said she was surprised and excited when she got the call about making Team Alberta. The 14-year-old has been playing lacrosse for about six years, but she said this is one of the biggest moments for her.

“It means a lot to me because not many people get picked to go from Wainwright to play on a team like that. Most of our guy players who are really good – Matthew Smith, Jarod Newell, Frankie Parent – they still haven’t made a team like this. So it’s pretty surprising and exciting,” Jaber said.

She attended tryouts in Edmonton earlier in April, and Jaber said she was confident in what she showed the coaches in terms of her skills. But when it came time for scrimmages, she said she made a couple mistakes and started getting down on herself.

Still, Jaber said she had a good feeling about her showing at tryouts, and she was elated when she got the call about making the team.

“The first two tryouts I felt pretty good about myself. But once we got to doing scrimmages, I started putting myself down because I messed up a couple times,” she said.

“My first reaction was ‘Woah.’ I was surprised, but at the same time, I knew I could make it. It was really exciting.”

Jaber will join her fellow Team Alberta teammates in Halifax for the week-long tournament beginning July 16. They will be playing against and learning from some of the best female lacrosse players in the country, and Jaber said she hopes to gain plenty of experience throughout the tournament.

“I think I’ll just be a better lacrosse player because of it. I’ll know more and I’ll have more knowledge of the game,” she said.

Jaber and her Bantam Wolfpack teammates are set to kick off their season with their home exhibition tournament this weekend. Peewee, Bantam and Midget teams from across the province are set to compete at the PMM in Wainwright for the first lacrosse tournament of the season.